Prism99

If you decide to wash the top, be sure to first baste it securely to a foundation fabric. You can do the basting by machine. Otherwise you are likely to end up with a distorted mess of frayed seams.

RST

I recently was able to get marking pencil out of a quite quilt that had been there for over 20 years. I had a little bit of regular pencil, but mostly a red/pink chalk marking to deal with.

I washed several times (with woolite) and I used shout sprayed directly on the markings. It came out almost completely -- because I know where it was, I can still see faint marks, but seen as a whole it's fine.

Good luck!

RST

magpie

If it doesn't wash out what about using a decorative stitch and variegated thread or a color to complement the quilt and quilt right over the lines?

skydiver70

I agree, if you wash it first be sure you have it basted to backing or something so you won't have all the ravels and possibly ruin part of it.

I used Shout to get ink marks out of some fabric I had after trying everything else I could think of, don't know if it would work on pencil or not.

DawnMarie

117becca mentioned that a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser works for getting the pencil marks out.
http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-75177-1.htm

greensleeves

I thought someone earlier suggested using "magic eraser". Maybe someone can verify or not.

Donna P

I would wash on a gentle cycle.....and either spray with a mild spot remover before hand. I got a quilt top that was done in the early 30's and it was stained marked where it had been folded...I washed it and it come out very nice and unharmed.

earthwalker

This probably is a bit of a stupid thing to say...but why not just quilt it as she intended? Anyway, I would probably quilt first before washing. It will be stable then and any stubborn marks could be worked on (gently) after a good wash. You might find the majority will come out without too much problem. It looks lovely, by the way...pretty colours.

twospoiledhuskies

I had rusty water spots on my block. Made a paste of Oxy. Came out great. I didn't have to wash the piece. It left a little bit of white residue, but I dabbed it off with wet washcloth. You cant' even tell it was there.

This stuff is WONDERFUL!!!!

Good luck!! :D

IBQUILTIN

I have a fabric eraser that I picked up at JoAnn's. Depending on how long the marks have been there, you should be able to get them out. Good luck, and I hope it works for you